Nachos in Paradise: The Grove in Kailua

We had a Living Social deal for The Grove in Kailua that was soon expiring so we headed over the mountains to have a little ladies’ night goat cheese nachos. The place was packed. Note to self: Use your Living Social, Groupon, etc. deals well before they expire. Otherwise you deal with way too busy restaurants as everyone who bought the deal received the email letting them know their deal would be expiring soon. First we were told it was an hour wait, but they squeezed us in within about 10 minutes to a table in the back. Our waitress was super friendly and helpful. The drink menu has all of my favorite ginger drinks like Moscow Mule (in a proper copper mug) and Dark and Stormy. We ordered a couple orders of the nachos, a brussel sprout salad, some kalua pork sliders and some truffle fries (came with little pieces of salami and prosciutto and 3 different aioli sauces). Nom nom nom nom nom.

Kalua Pork & Goat Cheese Nachos: Maui Onion Sour Cream, Asian Guacamole, Ginger Plum Sauce - $13.95.

H-Dizzle: (4.5) Fancy pants nachos. Fusion nachos w/kalua pork and plum sauce. RAD : Treated (and seated) like the nacho royalty we are. The owner himself brought me tobasco. But the plum sauce was so good, it was not needed. LAME : Size for the price. Topping to Chip Ratio : 4.5, perfectly proportioned. Service was great. Portions are small, but tasty. Treat yourself!

La Sexxxy: (5, great nachos, tasty plumb sauce) Very Pretty! RAD : Maui onion sour cream roxs! LAME : Wish there were more on the plate. Topping to Chip Ratio : 5, perfecto! Waitress was super nice, owner came to greet us.

Nacho Libra: (5-maybe it's just because we were having such a wonderful evening, but I loved these!) The place was packed! But they fit us in at the perfect table! Could smell the kalua pork all the way down the block, makes your mouth water. Appetizer sized, nicely piled. RAD : Ginger plum sauce has the perfect kick. Salty pork perfection. Real cheese. The maui onion sour cream was heavenly. Seriously! LAME : Toppings piled in the center, I liked to spread evenly over the wonton chip. Topping to Chip Ratio : 4, just enough toppings for the chip. Yay for living social deals. Carolina was super sweet & fun.

Shananigans: (4.5) 5 large wonton chips piled high with kalua pork, sour cream and guacamole. RAD : Fresh cheese, sour cream with Maui onions, ginger plum sauce was sassy deliciousness. The kitchen is open view to the restaurant so you can see what is going on. LAME : Lack of spice, fresh jalapeno would have been lovely. We did not get any coasters with our secondary drink order so the table was a condensation nightmare for our score cards. I dislike condensation. Topping to Chip Ratio : 4.8, chips were covered and you could take multiple bites of one wonton chip. Very tasty flavors that mesh incredibly together. The plum sauce sneaks in when you bite into the middle and happily surprises your tongue. The owner walked by, greeted our table and got a kick out of the fact we were nacho bloggers. Very friendly staff, including our waitress Carolina who was funny and sweet.